More Thoughts on Green Energy

Look, I apologize — okay? — but this story just won’t stop. I know that I’ve written a fair amount on crony green capitalism, but more things keep propping up, and the mainstream media keep ignoring them. They have made green energy their shibboleth. So those of us in the alterative media just have to step up to the plate.

First, some recent material on the most notorious “green energy” scandal: the Solyndra case. Solyndra was loudly touted by the Obama Regime as a “jobs machine,” and its chief investor was a billionaire leftist Obama fundraiser. This “company” was given a half-billion bucks in taxpayer-backed loans, after which it went belly up. The Republicans in the House of Representatives have been trying to get all the information on the scandal, but they are naturally facing a White House stonewalling campaign. The Democrats in the Senate, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has his own ties to the corrupt green energy program, are ignoring this issue.

The House served a subpoena on the White House for all its internal emails about the company. The White House is obviously frightened of those coming to light. An early release of emails showed that very high officials in the Regime knew Solyndra was in trouble even as the Regime was looking at plans to shovel it more taxpayer-backed loan guarantees; the subsidies were given, nonetheless. The emails caused the Regime considerable embarrassment, and it is clearly worried about more unfavorable publicity. So it is practicing what the Nixon Watergate cover-up hatchetman had called a “modified, limited hang out.” That is, it has released some highly redacted emails, but with crucial information omitted, and has refused to release all pertinent information.

More recently released emails show that the Department of Energy (DOE) put pressure on Solyndra to squelch an announcement that Solyndra planned worker layoffs and a plant closing until after the election.

That’s right. Solyndra’s CEO warned the DOE on Oct. 25, 2010 that because the wretched company was running out of cash, it planned to lay off employees on Oct. 28. He noted that reporters had apparently learned the company was in trouble. In an email of Oct. 30, advisers to Solyndra’s main investor note that the DOE has pressured the company to put off the announcement until a day after the Nov. 2 midterm elections. The email says, “DOE continues to be cooperative have indicated that they will fund the November draw on our loan (app. $40 million) but have not committed to December yet. . . . They did push very hard for us to hold our announcement of the consolidation to employees and vendors to Nov. 3rd — oddly they didn’t give a reason for the date.”

That last sentence indicates that the unnamed author of the email was either an idiot or a comedian.

These emails and others reveal a level of coordination between the company and the DOE that can only be called crony capitalist collusion.

Now let us mourn the demise of yet another “promising” green energy company — one I haven’t mentioned before — Beacon Power. I know what you’re thinking: why lament the passing of another startup company? Don’t 56% of all new companies fail in the first four years, Jason? What part of Schumpeterian economic theory don’t you understand, the “creative” part or the “destruction” part?

Now that’s a great return on your investment: pay less than a hundred grand, and pocket $400 million in return.

The reason you should mourn, dear friend, is that more of your tax dollars were spent on this boondoggle. Yes, Beacon Power got a tidy $43 million in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees from Obama’s DOE, and it has just filed for bankruptcy.

Then again, there is the chipper, choice news that another solar company, Colorado-based Abound Solar, received $400 million in (as always with this corrupt regime) taxpayer-backed DOE loan guarantees. Now, I know this will shock you, but one of the major investors in Abound Solar was a big financial backer of — Obama!

In a story that abounds in irony, though not in legitimate profits, one of the major investors in Abound Solar — a creature delightfully named Pat Stryker (as in, striking at our tax dollars) — “bundled” $87,500 for Honest Barry. Now that’s a great return on your investment: pay less than a hundred grand, and pocket $400 million in return.

And I must not omit the news about Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s, sly crony capitalist deal. This story has been unearthed by the keen eye of Peter Schweizer, who has an expose of the morass of crony capitalism our nation has become in his new book, Throw Them All Out.

Kennedy made his name as a big booster of green energy (except, of course, in his own backyard). His company, BrightSource, snagged a very tidy $1.4 billion bailout from Obama’s DOE. Apparently, though the details are still murky, this bailout — a DOE taxpayer-backed loan guarantee — was arranged by a key DOE employee who had only recently worked for Kennedy’s company.

The central player may have been Sanjay Wagle. He was one of the owners of BrightSource, and he raised money for Obama’s 2008 campaign. Upon election, Obama appointed him to the DOE as an adviser — on energy grants! Pretty convenient for the company, no?

At the time it requested the loan, BrightSource was a basket case, with $1.8 billion in debt, losses of $71.6 million, and a lousy $13.5 million in revenue.

The corruption these stories reveal is truly Nixonian. But there is a difference between Nixon’s and Obama’s corruption. The mainstream news media were interested in exposing Nixon’s (because they loathed him), but aren’t in the least interested in exposing Obama’s (because they love him).

For the record: this whole green energy loan guarantee program was approved by George Bush, and was dramatically increased by Obama with so-called stimulus money. Can we all not now agree just to kill the whole freaking stupid program?

About this Author

Gary Jason is an academic philosopher and a senior editor of Liberty. His new book, Disturbing Thoughts, is available through Amazon — at a price even those whose assets have been seized can easily afford.

Comments

In order to get a conviction of one of these political elites or their handlers, bundlers etc., you need an eye witness by an unimpeachable source, who has never, ever made a mistake before and, personally witnessed three confirmed miracles.

Sat, 2011-12-03 12:42

Fred Mora

" Can we all not now agree just to kill the whole freaking stupid program? "

It will be canceled as soon as the White House runs out of greedy Leftists and grandstanding con-men.

Tue, 2011-11-22 16:03

Gary Jason

Let us hope that happens next year!!

Thu, 2011-11-24 13:08

Brian

To be replaced by greedy rightists who will give taxpayer subsidies to their pals in the fossil fuels industry.Either way the taxpayer is gonna get screwed.....

Thu, 2011-11-24 10:04

Gary Jason

The point is that the fossil fuels don't need the subsidies, whereas green energy sources DO--by orders of magnitude greater amounts.